System and method for increasing compliance with a health plan

ABSTRACT

System and method to determine user compliance with personalized diet and exercise plans by analyzing responses to messages about the plans. An expert system has a number of stored messages and display characteristics from which it chooses. The expert system generates message relating to the user&#39;s diet or physical activity that are sent to a user&#39;s mobile device and analyzes responses. Display characteristics change periodically and compliance data relating to the user&#39;s adherence to the plan when certain display characteristics are used is stored (e.g., meal plan adherence, acceptance of specific food selections, and adherence to instructions and advice in messages). The expert system then determines which messages and display characteristics achieve the greatest compliance to the dietary and physical activity schedule and goals.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/118,939, filed May 12, 2008 and titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FORINCREASING COMPLIANCE WITH A HEALTH PLAN, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,560,336,issued Oct. 15, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference. U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/118,939 is a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/117,190, filed May 8, 2008 and titledMETHOD FOR TAILORING STRATEGY MESSAGES FROM AN EXPERT SYSTEM TO ENHANCESUCCESS WITH MODIFICATIONS TO HEALTH BEHAVIORS, now U.S. Pat. No.8,463,618, issued Jun. 11, 2013, which is incorporated herein byreference. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/118,939 is also acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/856,917filed Sep. 18, 2007 and titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REWARDING USERS FORCHANGES IN HEALTH BEHAVIORS, which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to systems and methods forassisting with the maintenance of healthy lifestyle habits. Moreparticularly, the present invention is a system and method for track,monitoring, and analyzing data to improve user compliance withpersonalized diet and exercise plans.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to systems that promote healthylifestyles and, more particularly, to weight loss systems. The presentinvention is an improvement upon existing weight loss systems in that ittracks, monitors, and analyzes data to improve compliance with apersonalized health plan. The present invention may be used to motivatedieters as well as keep them on a healthy diet while at the same timeallowing flexibility in different dieting aspects including, but notlimited to, types of food, amount of food, types of food preparation,and amount of exercise.

Dieting has become an extremely popular activity resulting from people'sawareness of the health risks of becoming overweight or obese, a desireto improve one's appearance, and an aspiration to achieve the sense ofaccomplishment that comes from setting a difficult goal andaccomplishing it. However, there is no singular method of dieting thatworks for every person. Body types, weight loss goals, and preferencesvary greatly depending on the individual. Every dieter has individuallikes and dislikes as to types of food, times and places to eat, typeand length of exercise, eating habits, etc. Due to these differences,many dieters become frustrated with rigid, impersonal diets, and oftenquit the diet after a short time.

Furthermore, dieters differ on how well they can motivate themselves tocontinue to adhere to certain dietary guidelines. For example, a dieterwho is supposed to only eat a cup of pasta and a vegetable for lunch,but instead decides to eat an ice cream cone as well may be unable tojustify such a decision within the diet and decide to give up the dietfor the rest of the day. Because such “splurges” are detrimental to thedieter's physical and mental progress, the dieter may find the dietunsustainable.

Many diet plans fail to allow for individualized exercise schedules.Typically, the diet plans suggest the same workout schedule for everyperson on the diet. For example, the diet plan may incorporate a workoutof a half hour, two to three times a week. Such a generalized workoutschedule has a number of weaknesses. First, it fails to factor in thetype of activity the person is performing. The effectiveness of theexercise depends on what exercise is performed as well as the intensity.A half hour of strolling through a park is simply not as effective as ahalf hour of running.

Second, it does not allow for individualized ability. For some people,working out for half an hour, two to three times a week, may bephysically impossible given their current condition. It may be possiblefor them in the future, but the person may to a 15 minute workout foruntil his or her health improves. Other individuals may have the desireand ability to work out for a longer period of time or a greater numberof times per week.

Another problem with a general workout schedule is that it fails tofactor in the individual's likes and dislikes as to type of activity andtime of day to perform the activity. A plan that proposes exercise twoto three times a week is easily put aside when the person is busy anddistracted by other activities. A person is much more likely to performan activity that is scheduled or better yet, for which a reminder isprovided telling the person to perform a certain activity at a certaintime.

Finally, existing diet plans often fail to take into account detailsregarding the user's dietary information. The two parts of the dietplan—the intake of food and exercise—are generally treated as separateparts of the plan. However, the two are related in that they both havean impact on caloric intake. The more one exercises, the more one caneat. Accounting for both activities allows the impact of one to beapplied to the other. For example, a person may eat a large lunch oneday and reduce the impact of the lunch by including an extra work outlater in the week. Likewise, a person could miss a scheduled workout andcompensate for it by eating a smaller meal later in the day.

A highly effective solution to many diet program problems is foundthrough the use of coaching. Research has shown that dieting and weightloss is more successful when the dieter is coached throughout theprocess. Coaching keeps the dieter motivated, provides positivereinforcement, and introduces a narrowly-tailored plan for eachindividual participant. However, obtaining a reliable human coach isdifficult and prohibitively expensive such that relatively few dietersare actually able to use one.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIVE CONCEPT

The present invention addresses the diet plan programs identified aboveby providing personalized plans to meet the needs and requirements ofindividual users and determining users' compliance with the plans. Ituses tailored messages to “coach” individuals in following theirpersonalized plans. An expert system uses information about anindividual's diet and exercise preferences to provide tailored messagesrelated to the plan. The expert system further receives fromindividuals' responses to messages and other information to determinecompliance with personalized plans. Additional tailored messages aredesigned to increase compliance. As a result, individuals receivepersonalized instruction in the fields of dieting and exercise withoutpaying the prohibitively expensive fees that are typically associatedwith personalized instruction. Exemplary embodiments allow theindividual to use mobile or portable devices and technology, such ascell phones, PDA's, Blackberrys™, iPhones™, and others, so that theindividual has constant access to personalized instruction regarding hisor her personalized diet and exercise plan.

The personalized instruction is based on an individual's diet planpreferences, food preferences, meal preparation preferences, andexercise preferences. Behavior challenges are identified and targetgoals are set. Once the user's plan has been established, typically byproviding the preference and other information through an onlinewebsite, the user is never required to access the site again as thepersonalized instruction is given through the user's mobile device. Theprior art is known to center around “pull” technology, where the usermust reach out to the system for the information, and if there isinaction by the user, the instruction will stop. The present inventionuses “push” technology, where the instruction is sent to the user, andinaction by the user prompts the system to reach out to the user forcorrective actions and encouragement.

It has been found, through the study of behavior informatics, that theuse of technology can help people make significant changes in theirhealth. Gradual change, over a longer period of time, is more effectivefor long-term health solutions, rather than behavior changes that areexpected to take place rapidly, over a short period of time. Further,many dieters are more comfortable using familiar technology to assistthem with their dieting, as opposed to unfamiliar and possiblyuncomfortable office and training room sessions with an actual dietitianand trainer. The present invention incorporates these concepts into adiet and exercise instructional platform based on individuals'preferences to increase the likelihood that individuals will adopt andfollow a plan that helps them reach their personal goals.

An expert system determines user compliance with personalized diet andexercise plans and determines appropriate content and displaycharacteristics for messages sent to a user's mobile device such thatthe user's compliance with the diet and exercise plan is increased. Anumber of message and display characteristics are monitored for groupsof individuals to determine which ones the individuals respond to in apositive manner. Such display characteristics include text messages,pictures, voice patterns, etc. For text messages, the displaycharacteristics may differ from each other in font, size of message, ortone of message.

In one embodiment, the expert system has a number of stored messages anddisplay characteristics from which it may choose. Every time a messagerelating to the user's diet or physical activity is sent to the user bythe expert system, a set of display characteristics is chosen to displaythe message. The initial set of display characteristics may be randomlychosen or there may be a pre-loaded initial set to be used for everyuser. The display characteristics are changed periodically andcompliance data relating to whether the user was able to adhere to theplan when certain display characteristics are used is stored. Thiscompliance data is stored in a personal profile, unique to each user.Compliance data can be measured in many different ways including, butnot limited to, meal plan adherence, acceptance of specific foodselections, and adherence to instructions and advice in messages. Theexpert system then determines which messages and display characteristicsachieve the greatest compliance to the dietary and physical activityschedule and goals. These display characteristics are then used whensubsequent messages are sent.

In addition to the novel features and advantages mentioned above, otherfeatures and advantages will be readily apparent from the followingdescriptions of the drawings and exemplary embodiments

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a process for determining messageeffectiveness according to an example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a process for generating a message byselecting message content and display characteristics according to anexample embodiment; and

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a physical structure for an exampleembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments provide a predictive modeling system thatdetermines a set of display characteristics to maximize a user'scompliance to a personalized diet and exercise program.

Referring to Table 1, data that is tracked and stored for complianceanalysis according to an example embodiment is shown. Data may becaptured during a user enrollment process and during a user'sinteractions with the system. Data categories include: customer (dataprovided by customer related to customer's background or profile,financial, nutrition/diet, behaviors, physical activities, andmessages), general (data related to user interactions with website),mobile (data about customers mobile device and its use), marketing (dataabout customer's introduction to system) and call center (data aboutcustomer's interaction with call center). Customer data includes initialprofile data as well as diet and exercise plan and behavioral data.Initial profile data is data entered by the user during an enrollmentprocess and may be changed by the user at any time. It may include suchinformation as age, gender, income, height, weight, etc. Nutrition anddiet data includes the user's diet plan selection, meal preparation andmeal time preferences, preferred foods and substitutions, adherencedata, and restaurant and shopping list data. Behavioral data includesidentification of problem behaviors and strategies. Physical activitydata include preferred activities and current activity level. Messagedata includes data regarding messages sent and received as well asrelated timing data.

TABLE 1 Category Subcategory Data Elements Element Details CustomerProfile age gender income height weight history state BMI historyeducation level ethnicity number in household children in household dateof enrollment marital status time zone goal weight rate of weight lossselected history Financial household income occupation Nutrition/Dietmeal plan calorie level name change date time on plan program durationstart date end date cancel date cancel reason meal preparation mealtimes breakfast lunch snack dinner food eaten most frequently count ofsuggested menu opt- out substitution made (in) what was substituted(out) meal meal item meal prep foods not selected (don't at enrollmentwant) ongoing recipes selected adherence (food diary) breakfast lunchdinner snack restaurant shopping list Behaviors problem behaviorsstrategies strategy success community involvement member of forum postsresponse/guidance Physical Activity participate current activity levelactivities selected schedule level history calories expended smokeMessages Messages sent time time before response message type responsesGeneral website page views time spent on page repeat views uniquevisitor returning visitor page before website search engine city numberof emails recipe views download article views downloads coupon usePrinted redeemed shopping list views downloads Mobile mobile phonenumber mobile phone model mobile phone manufacturer wireless providerdata plan cell phone use frequency # of times per day times during dayaverage call time geo code lat or UTM (Universal Transverse MercatorGrid) long (or UTM) messaging plan Marketing heard about email providerpreferred communication IM provider Call center use # calls to RD typeof call call status customer data name mobile number length of callresolution

As Table 1 indicates, user interactions may be monitored and data may betracked according to each user's involvement with the system andparticipation in a diet and exercise program. Information about thefrequency and nature of a user's interaction with the system such as thenumber of messages sent and received by the user over a period of time,the frequency and nature of responses to messages, and the frequency andnature of interaction with a website is collected to later determineuser compliance levels.

Table 2 identifies queries that may be performed against the data thatis tracked and stored. Queries related to navigation, performance, andoperations may be performed. The queries provide an indication of theoverall effectiveness of the system and may also be used to determinethe effectiveness of individual aspects of the system. For example,various “campaigns” may be developed and promoted to all users or groupsof users. User interactions may be monitored and tracked as describedpreviously to determine the effectiveness of the various campaigns.

TABLE 2 Navigation Performance Operations Count of active customersPercent increase/decrease in Customer acquisition cost per compared togoal number of active customers per customer segment segment (byday/week/month) Count of active customers Number of active customers perNumber of net new prospects per account (business) or account orhousehold (by campaign) household (consumer) compared to goal Count ofproducts & Number of customer referrals Conversion rate of prospects toservices used by by customer segment customers (by campaign) customersper segment compared to goal Percent share of wallet, Percentincrease/decrease in Up-sell/cross-sell success rate account orhousehold per number of products used by by customer segment for segmentcompared to customers per segment (by additional products and goalweek/month) services Percent retention/ Percent increase/decrease inWin/loss ratio per account or renewal of active share of wallet,account, or household per segment customers by segment household persegment compared to goal Average tenure of Customer loyalty ratings perCustomer retention cost per customers by segment segment segmentcompared to goal Number of repeat orders Customer loyalty ratings perNumber of “winback” customers by segment compared to distributionchannel & per segment goal interaction touch point Number of product orIncrease/decrease in repeat Percent of customers by service upgrades byorders/by segment segment who have interacted segment compared to withus (with our partners) goal within the last quarter Percent of customerIncrease/decrease in upgrades Percent of active customers outcomes metper per segment enrolled in/with activity in segment customer loyaltyprogram per segment Customer satisfaction Customer satisfaction ratingsNumber of customers “likely to ratings per segment per customer scenario& defect” segment Average time to complete Task-specific customerProduct feature- or attribute- key customer scenarios satisfactionratings per specific customer satisfaction compared to goals interactiontouch-point & ratings channel Percent of customer Average time tocomplete key Critical cycle times responsiveness tasks (e.g. Return thecorrect objectives met compared search result) to goals for criticalcustomer-impacting tasks Revenues per customer Percent accuracy ofinformation Timeliness (as measured by customer) Profitability percustomer Delivery timeliness and Complexity of interactions (# of bysegment accuracy steps, # of interactions) Average order size by Percentcancellations Inventory availability customer segment Average spendingper End-to-end transaction Rates of returns, claims, customer bycustomer execution accuracy and speed abandonment, segment Customerlifetime value Growth of customer spending Defect rates by customersegment by segment Customer acquisition and Number of customer supportretention costs by segment requests Costs-to-serve by segment Percentcustomer support interactions with 1-touch resolution Increase/decreasein sales Early buying signals by from new products by segment customersegment Increase/decrease in repeat Costs-to-serve by channels, sales bysegment and touch points

The present invention may be used to increase compliance by measuringthe effectiveness of various messages that are sent to users. Messagesmay be varied by content and presentation and then sent to differentgroups of users with similar personal profiles. Within a group, eachmember may receive identical or similar messages. After a set period oftime, compliance data can be calculated for each group. Differentmessages can then be sent to the same groups or to newly formed groups.Continuing this process creates a comprehensive set of compliance datafor a variety of message types and formats. The approach allows numerousdata points to be collected for various types and formats of messagesand allows an analyst to determine the effectiveness of variousmessages. More effective messages may be deployed to larger groups ofusers to increase overall compliance.

In order to build groups of similarly situated individuals, data may bepurchased from other parties. Users may be placed into different testgroups based upon similarities in their user profiles. Each member of agroup may receive at least one message with similar displaycharacteristics. For a period of time, different compliance measures maybe recorded for each member in the group. Compliance measures foraggregate groups may be calculated as well. These compliance measuresinclude, but are not limited to, percent increase/decrease in number ofactive customers, percent increase/decrease in number of products usedby customers, and increase/decrease in repeat orders of product orservice upgrades. These compliance measures may be based on a largesample size, and allow an analyst to test different displaycharacteristics based on the type of compliance it seeks.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a process for determining messageeffectiveness according to an example embodiment. Once a user group isdefined 10, the expert system determines if the time period formeasuring message effectiveness has started 11. If the period hasstarted, the expert system determines the substance of the message to besent 12 to the users. Messages may relate to user goals, meal plans,diet and exercise activity reminders, and requests for responses orinput related to an applicable diet and exercise plan. For example, ifat least some of the users have accomplished their dietary goals for theweek, the expert system may send a positive reinforcement message to theappropriate users. Other users may be asked to provide a current weightor to provide input regarding an activity performed recently. Then, theexpert system chooses a set of display characteristics to use with themessage based on such information as users' personal profiles 13. Themessages are then transmitted for display on the mobile devices usingthe set of display characteristics 14. The user profiles are updated toindicate what messages were sent and received.

A message characteristics data store for tracking the messages that aresent may also be updated at this time 15. The message characteristicsdata store may track messages and related display characteristics thatare currently in use or have been used for each user, the time period inwhich they were used, and the resulting changes to each user's personalprofile during this time. Once the period for using the specifiedmessage characteristics has passed 16, the expert system calculates andanalyzes the compliance data for the message 17. The compliance data maybe based on the queries identified in Table 2. Messages that result in agreater level of compliance may be used more frequently and adapted foruse in other groups or for other purposes.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a process for generating a message byselecting message content and display characteristics according to anexample embodiment. In this example, the expert system chooses one ofeach of the following display characteristics to form a set: messagetone (e.g., positive, negative, neutral) 20, an avatar 21, a font 22,and a border 23. The display characteristics are not limited to thoseshown, but may also include other graphics, certain words, certainsentences, voice tones, etc. The message characteristics are thencombined to create a message for display on the mobile device. In thisexample, a congratulatory message with the positive phrases underlined24, a black border 25, and a young woman avatar 26 are displayed on acellular phone 27.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the physical structure of the system. Eachof the connections mentioned here permit data to flow in bothdirections. A laptop or desktop personal computer 100 is connected tothe server 120 through the internet 110. The user may connect to awebsite to create an account and enter personal information andpreferences for creating a profile. The server 120 is connected to oneor more databases 122, 124 comprising user data, nutrition provider data(nutritional data related to meals offered by a plurality of mealproviders), diet, and exercise data, message data, progress data,compliance data, restaurant, shopping, and entertainment establishmentdata, reward data, and other data as may be required to provide thefeatures and functionality of the present invention. The server 120 isconnected to communication networks 130 (comprising various datatransmitters and receivers) through the internet 110. The various datatransmitters and receivers of the communication networks 130 facilitatecommunications with the user's portable technology 140 which includescellular or mobile phones, personal digital assistants, or any otherportable device capable of sending and receiving communications throughthe communication networks 130 and displaying them for a user. An expertsystem at the server uses the individual's account information,including information about the individual's mobile phone, to tailor andsend to the individual messages to reinforce and motivate healthyhabits.

In an example embodiment, the expert system is constructed using theJ2EE programming language in conjunction with a SQL based database (likeMicrosoft SQL Server or Oracle DB). AJAX, Active X, and Java componentsmay also be used to handle various aspects of the system. The mobilecomponent of the overall system is constructed using the J2MEprogramming language sending wireless requests to the expert system overcommon carrier communication protocols. Communication between the mobilecomponent and the expert system is constructed using XML languagestructures.

Any embodiment may include any of the optional or preferred features ofthe other embodiments. The exemplary embodiments herein disclosed arenot intended to be exhaustive or to unnecessarily limit the scope of theinvention. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in orderto explain the principles so that others skilled in the art may practicethe invention. Having shown and described exemplary embodiments, thoseskilled in the art will realize that many variations and modificationsmay be made to affect the described invention. Many of those variationsand modifications will provide the same result and fall within thespirit of the claimed invention. It is the intention, therefore, tolimit the invention only as indicated by the scope of the claims.

1. A computerized method for tracking, monitoring, and analyzing messagedata to increase compliance with personalized diet and exercise plans,comprising at least one server executing programming instructions for:(a) storing in at least one user profile database for a plurality ofusers profile data comprising: (1) contact information for said users;(2) personal information for said users; (3) dietary and exercise plandata for said users; and (4) compliance data for said users; (b) storingin at least one message database: (1) message content data forcommunicating messages to said users; (2) display characteristics datafor formatting said messages; (c) identifying a group of users selectedfrom said plurality of users according to similarities in said profilesfor said users; (d) selecting for said group of users: (1) a pluralityof messages from said message content data; and (2) displaycharacteristics from said display characteristics data for formattingsaid plurality of messages; (e) setting a time period for transmittingsaid plurality of messages and said plurality of displaycharacteristics; (f) during said time period, (1) transmitting to mobiledevices for said group of users said messages with at least a portion ofsaid display characteristics; and (2) receiving from mobile devices forsaid group of users responses to said messages formatted with saiddisplay characteristics; (g) after said time period, calculating aplurality of compliance measures for said messages and said displaycharacteristics based on said responses from said group of users; and(h) transmitting to said mobile devices for said group of usersadditional messages with display characteristics determined from saidcompliance measures to result in positive responses from said group ofusers.
 2. The computerized method of claim 1, further comprisingupdating said compliance data for said group of users according to saidcompliance measures.
 3. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein saidcompliance measures comprise calculating for each of said users a numberof messages received and acknowledged over said time period.
 4. Thecomputerized method of claim 1, wherein said compliance measurescomprise a number of users who have responded to said transmittedmessages, a number of users who have not responded to said transmittedmessages, and a number of users who have quit a respective diet andexercise plan within said time period.
 5. The computerized method ofclaim 1, wherein said compliance measures are selected from the groupconsisting of: meal plan adherence, acceptance of food selections, andinstruction adherence, user frequency of responses, user nature ofresponses, user frequency of interaction with a web site, and usernature of interaction with a web site.
 6. The computerized method ofclaim 1, wherein transmitting said messages with at least a portion ofsaid display characteristics to mobile devices for said group of userscomprises transmitting at least one identical message to each user insaid group of users.
 7. The computerized method of claim 1, whereinselecting a plurality of messages for said group of users comprisesselecting messages from the group consisting of: diet goals, dietreminders, activity goals, and activity reminders.
 8. The computerizedmethod of claim 1, wherein said display characteristics are selectedfrom the group consisting of: text font, text size, text underlining,border, graphic, and voice pattern.
 9. A computerized system fortracking, monitoring, and analyzing message data to increase compliancewith personalized diet and exercise plans, comprising: (a) at least oneuser profile database storing for a plurality of users profile datacomprising: (1) contact information for said users; (2) personalinformation for said users; (3) dietary and exercise plan data for saidusers; and (4) compliance data for said users; (b) at least one messagedatabase storing: (1) message content data for communicating messages tosaid users; (2) display characteristics data for formatting saidmessages; (c) at least one server executing programming instructions to:(1) identify a group of users selected from said plurality of usersaccording to similarities in said profiles for said users; (2) selectfor said group of users: (i) a plurality of messages from said messagecontent data; and (ii) display characteristics from said displaycharacteristics data for formatting said plurality of messages; (3) seta time period for transmitting said plurality of messages and saidplurality of display characteristics; (4) during said time period, (i)transmit to mobile devices for said group of users said messages with atleast a portion of said display characteristics; and (ii) receive frommobile devices for said group of users responses to said messages; (5)after said time period, calculate a plurality of compliance measures forsaid messages and said display characteristics based on said responsesfrom said group of users; and (6) transmit to said mobile devices forsaid group of users additional messages with display characteristicsdetermined from said compliance measures to result in positive responsesfrom said group of users.
 10. The computerized system of claim 9,wherein said server further executes instructions to update saidcompliance data for said group of users according to said compliancemeasures.
 11. The computerized system of claim 9, wherein saidcompliance measures comprise calculating for each of said users a numberof messages received and acknowledged over said time period.
 12. Thecomputerized system of claim 9, wherein said compliance measurescomprise a number of users who have responded to said transmittedmessages, a number of users who have not responded to said transmittedmessages, and a number of users who have quit a respective diet andexercise plan within said time period.
 13. The computerized system ofclaim 9, wherein said compliance measures are selected from the groupconsisting of: meal plan adherence, acceptance of food selections, andinstruction adherence, user frequency of responses, user nature ofresponses, user frequency of interaction with a web site, and usernature of interaction with a web site.
 14. The computerized system ofclaim 9, wherein transmitting said messages with at least a portion ofsaid display characteristics to mobile devices for said group of userscomprises transmitting at least one identical message to each user insaid group of users.
 15. The computerized system of claim 9, whereinselecting a plurality of messages for said group of users comprisesselecting messages from the group consisting of: diet goals, dietreminders, activity goals, and activity reminders.
 16. The computerizedsystem of claim 9, wherein said display characteristics are selectedfrom the group consisting of: text font, text size, text underlining,border, graphic, and voice pattern.
 17. A computerized method fortracking, monitoring, and analyzing message data to increase compliancewith personalized diet and exercise plans, comprising at least oneserver executing programming instructions for: (a) storing in at leastone user profile database for a plurality of users profile datacomprising: (1) contact information for said users; (2) personalinformation for said users; (3) dietary and exercise plan data for saidusers; and (4) compliance data for said users; (b) storing in at leastone message database: (1) message content data for communicatingmessages to said users; (2) display characteristics data for formattingsaid messages; (c) transmitting to a group of users selected from saidplurality of users according to similarities in said profiles for saidusers: (1) a plurality of messages selected from said message contentdata; and (2) display characteristics for formatting said plurality ofmessages selected from said display characteristics data; (d) setting atime period for: (1) transmitting to mobile devices for said group ofusers said plurality of messages and at least a portion of said displaycharacteristics; and (2) receiving from mobile devices for said group ofusers responses to said messages formatted with said displaycharacteristics; (e) after said time period, calculating a plurality ofcompliance measures for said messages and said display characteristicsbased on said responses from said group of users to determine whichmessages and display characteristics result in positive responses fromsaid group of users.
 17. The computerized method of claim 16, furthercomprising updating said compliance data for said group of usersaccording to said compliance measures.
 18. The computerized method ofclaim 17, further comprising transmitting to each of said users in saidgroup of users additional messages and display characteristics forformatting said additional messages selected for each of said usersaccording to said compliance data for said user.
 19. The computerizedmethod of claim 16, wherein said compliance measures are selected fromthe group consisting of: meal plan adherence, acceptance of foodselections, and instruction adherence, user frequency of responses, usernature of responses, user frequency of interaction with a web site, anduser nature of interaction with a web site.
 20. The computerized methodof claim 16, wherein said display characteristics are selected from thegroup consisting of: text font, text size, text underlining, border,graphic, and voice pattern.